LoL Fans Upset Over League's Involvement In Saudi Arabian Esports World Cup
Players are not happy with Riot right now. The fact that multiple teams could go to Saudi Arabia to participate in a World Cup Event.
It hasn't been long since players praised Riot for refusing Saudi Arabia's oil money for their esports events. Throughout the last few years, Saudi Arabia has been trying to establish itself as the nation for esports, and it seems that thanks to their huge cashflow, the big dogs are finally willing to play along.
In a recent post from Jacob Wolf, an esports insider, it was revealed that the 2024 Esports World Cup could feature League of Legends alongside some other popular titles, but the LoL-community is not happy about this.
LoL: Players Not Happy With Riot Decision-Making
In 2020 the LEC tried to form a partnership with the planned cross-border city NEOM. After it was announced, there was a huge backlash from the community, which caused Riot to quickly backpedal and cut the partnership short. This time around, it doesn't seem like it'll have the same end result, though.
One Reddit user summed it up as "Awful news" stating that if Riot is "taking money from the Saudi Government [they] are taking money directly from Human Rights abuse." Many other fans have shown similar sentiments on social media, but it seems like no one is truly surprised by this happening.
Many fans believe that with the current state of esports, Riot is looking to cash in somewhere, since the whole esports part of the game is more of a cash loss than gain, which is why it doesn't feel like this deal is going to fall through like the one for NEOM did a few years ago.
Freelance esports caster Shibby also chimed in, stating that this is something that fans should have been aware of with the current direction esports are going in. It'll be interesting to see how the public reacts to this news and if it'll sway Riot.
Another key factor will be the teams sent to this Esports World Cup, since Riot has no say in which teams will go according to Jacob Wolf. Will big names like T1 or G2 Esports participate in such a controversial event? Viewership without big names for a tournament like this is very likely to flop.
More League of Legends Content: